Wow, detsy that suit is amazing!! It looks shop bought, it's that good!
alapala I feel awful for you. It's horrible when something like that happens to someone young and healthy.
re: epidurals. Right, hmmm, difficult one. Personally I don't like them. Though I do feel they have their place e.g. with inductions or long labours where the mum is getting exhausted. Other than that I don't like them. I find that the 2nds stage tends to be quite long, because mums usually find it difficult to push (how and when), most of the instrumental deliveries I've witnessed are with epidurals. I personally like seeing women move around and try different positions, which you can't do with epidurals. Epidurals can also can make your blood pressure drop dramatically, something I've witnessed a few times and which is not nice. They don't always work and nothing is worse than caring for a woman who counted on a pain free labour with an epidural that's only giving partial relief, no matter what we try. Finally, if you have an epidural you need to be continuously monitored. I know a lot of doctors like epidurals, but that's only because they approach labour from a medical 'abnormal' point of view, an 'all pain is bad' point of view, while a lot of women don't mind the pain, because it's all part of it. Anyway, all of this is my own personal opinion, although I know a lot of mws don't like epidurals. They just seem to take the normal out of childbirth, because they introduce drips, monitors and immobility.
sausagen You'll be coming to my part of the world then. I live just north of B'ham.